Kishida, Fumio

Subterms

    Latest story

    75 Shares129 Views

    Russian Military Plane Breaches Japan’s Airspace

    by

    The infringements were the first by Russia in five years, according to the Japanese defense ministry. A fighter fired a warning flare in response.A Russian military patrol plane breached Japanese airspace off the country’s northwestern coast three times on Monday, prompting Japan’s military to dispatch a fighter jet to issue radio warnings and, for the first time, to use a signal flare to deter the Russian aircraft.According to Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Russian plane flew above Rebun Island, which is northwest of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon.“This violation of our airspace is extremely regrettable,” said Mr. Hayashi, in remarks to reporters on Monday afternoon. “We have lodged an extremely strong protest with the Russian government through diplomatic channels and have strongly urged them to prevent a recurrence.”This was not the first time that a Russian military plane had violated Japanese airspace but it was the first time that Japan’s military had responded with a flare to warn the plane to leave. Last month, a Chinese military aircraft flew into Japan’s territorial airspace and the government said it was the first known incursion by the Chinese military.Minoru Kihara, Japan’s defense minister, said Japan’s military had dispatched F-15 and F-35 fighter jets but that there had been “no particularly dangerous acts by the Russian aircraft.”According to Japan’s defense ministry, the flights on Monday represented the 44th known incursion by a Russian plane — or an aircraft suspected to be Russian — since 1967, but it was the first time that a Russian military plane had breached Japanese territorial airspace since June 2019.Mr. Kihara noted that both Chinese and Russian naval vessels had passed this week through the Soya Strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin, a Russian island about 25 miles north of Hokkaido. Mr. Kihara said it was possible that the movement of the ships and the Russian aircraft were related.Mr. Hayashi said the Japanese government did not know the “intentions and goals” of the Russian military aircraft. He said Japan would “take all possible measures to ensure vigilance and surveillance.”The prime minister is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, and Mr. Hayashi said he had advised Mr. Kishida to “respond calmly and resolutely” and to cooperate closely with the United States.Russia’s embassy in Tokyo referred requests for comment to the defense ministry, which did not immediately respond.Anton Troianovski More

    More stories

    • 125 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Fumio Kishida, Japan’s Prime Minister, Will Step Down in September

      by

      News outlets said the prime minister would step aside next month, bowing to pressure within his party, which wants to move on from his unpopular leadership. Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, intends to step down next month, bowing to pressure within his party to move on from his unpopular leadership, news outlets reported.Mr. Kishida has informed officials in his administration of his intention not to run in a governing-party election in September, according to Japanese news outlets, including the national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News. The winner of that election will become the prime minister.Mr. Kishida, who has been prime minister since 2021, will hold a news conference Wednesday morning, according to a spokesperson for his office.This is a developing story. More

    • 163 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      Biden’s State Dinner for Japan Was Heavy on Symbolism (and Yes, Cherry Blossoms)

      by

      The event’s musical guest, Paul Simon, even learned a little Japanese for the occasion.It was all very polite.Ambassadors, billionaires, a smattering of Biden family members and even one former president were all in attendance at the fifth state dinner President Biden and Jill Biden, the first lady, have held since taking office.The gauzy celebration leaned heavily into Japanese fans, cherry blossoms and other tokens of the softer side of the U.S.-Japan relationship. The substance of the state visit of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was focused on finding ways to counter China, but the style of the dinner was all about highlighting a capital city that owes its springtime resplendence, in large part, to the diplomatic overtures of the Japanese.President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida raising a toast during the dinner.Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesAs the dinner got underway in the East Room, Mr. Biden toasted “to our alliance, to our friendship.” He kept things similarly light earlier in the evening when he greeted Mr. Kishida at the White House, replying, “Thank you,” to a question from a reporter about expectations that Iran would retaliate against Israel for its strike on an Iranian target in Syria.Mr. Kishida also leaned into the idea of friendship.“The Pacific Ocean does not separate Japan and the United States. Rather, it unites us,” Mr. Kishida said during his dinner toast, noting that President Kennedy once said the same thing 60 years ago. “I like this line. I use it so many times that my staff tried to delete it.”Naomi Biden Neal, the president’s oldest granddaughter, and Peter Neal. The couple were married at the White House in 2022.Shuran Huang for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Biden’s State Dinner for Japan to Feature Paul Simon and Celebrate Spring

      by

      An elevated California roll and steak with sesame sabayon will be among the dishes presented to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan at the state dinner on Wednesday.The “bounty of spring” will be the theme of President Biden’s state dinner for Japan on Wednesday evening, an event that will feature decorations of cherry blossoms and peonies and conclude with a performance by Paul Simon.Jill Biden, the first lady, and the White House social secretary, Carlos Elizondo, previewed the menu and the décor ahead of the dinner for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and his wife. It will be the fifth state dinner of Mr. Biden’s term.The guests will enter the East Wing to a wall of oversized fans that spill onto the floor, a piece of art and a metaphor with “the small end representing the beginning of life, and each pleat the many paths our lives can take,” Mr. Elizondo said.The meal will include house-cured salmon with shiso leaf tempura (evoking a California roll) and dry-aged rib-eye beef with morel mushrooms from Oregon and shishito pepper butter. Salted caramel pistachio cake and cherry ice cream will be served for dessert.The White House executive chef Cris Comerford and the White House executive pastry chef Susie Morrison.Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesSalted caramel pistachio cake, matcha ganache with cherry ice cream and raspberry drizzle will be served for dessert.Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesThe state dinner on Wednesday night will be the fifth of the Biden presidency.Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesDr. Biden said the dinner had been designed with springtime in Washington in mind, and the decorations would evoke a garden of her favorite flowers, including sweet pea, roses and peonies.“As guests sit among the field of flowers, glass and silk butterflies from both our countries will dance over the tables,” Dr. Biden told reporters on Tuesday.The dinner will also spotlight Washington’s cherry trees, a present from Japan in 1912, which stand as “reminders of the gift Japan gave our nation’s capital and the bright future ahead for our partnership,” Mr. Elizondo said.The executive chef at the White House, Cris Comerford, said the dinner included ingredients sourced from across the country.Mr. Simon will perform after the dinner. Mr. Biden will also present Mr. Kishida with a two-volume LP set autographed by Billy Joel and a vintage vinyl record collection showcasing other American musicians, the White House announced on Tuesday.As the evening concludes, guests will leave through a path of hydrangeas, a selection of flowers common in both the United States and Japan.The guest list is typically released by the White House just before arrivals begin, but the Biden administration tends to invite prominent members of the visiting country, donors, administration officials and members of the Biden family. More

    • 150 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      U.S. Seals Security Pact With Japan and South Korea as Threats Loom

      by

      While the former president’s name appeared nowhere in the communique issued by three leaders, one of the subtexts was the possibility that he could return to power in next year’s election and disrupt ties with America’s two closest allies in the Indo-Pacific region.The new three-way security pact sealed by President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday was forged with threats by China and North Korea in mind. But there was one other possible factor driving the diplomatic breakthrough: Donald J. Trump.While the former president’s name appeared nowhere in the “Camp David Principles” that the leaders issued at the presidential retreat, one of the subtexts was the possibility that he could return to power in next year’s election and disrupt ties with America’s two closest allies in the Indo-Pacific region.Both Japan and South Korea struggled for four years as Mr. Trump threatened to scale back longstanding U.S. security and economic commitments while wooing China, North Korea and Russia. In formalizing a three-way alliance that had long eluded the United States, Mr. Biden and his counterparts hoped to lock in a strategic architecture that will endure regardless of who is in the White House next.“This is not about a day, a week or month,” Mr. Biden said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea. “This is about decades and decades of relationships that we’re building.” The goal, he added, was to “lay in place a long-term structure for a relationship that will last.”Asked by a reporter why Asia should be confident about American assurances given Mr. Trump’s campaign to recapture the presidency on a so-called America First platform, Mr. Biden offered a testimonial to the value of alliances in guaranteeing the nation’s security in dangerous times.“There’s not much, if anything, I agree on with my predecessor on foreign policy,” Mr. Biden said, adding that “walking away from the rest of the world leaves us weaker, not stronger. America is strong with our allies and our alliances and that’s why we will endure.”The meeting at the getaway in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland was a milestone in Mr. Biden’s efforts to stitch together a network of partnerships to counter Chinese aggression in the region. While the United States has long been close to Japan and South Korea individually, the two Asian powers have nursed generations of grievances that kept them at a distance from one another.The alignment at Camp David was made possible by Mr. Yoon’s decision to try to put the past behind the two countries. His rapprochement with Tokyo has not been universally popular at home with a public that harbors long memories of the Japanese occupation in the first half of the 20th century, but both sides made clear they are dedicated to a fresh start.“That’s a long, bitter colonial wound that President Yoon has to jump over, and Kishida as well,” said Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society. “That I think is a consonant expression of the degree to which China’s rather belligerent, punitive behavior has driven together allies, partners and friends within Asia.”Mr. Biden hoped to capitalize on that by bringing the Japanese and South Korean leaders together for the first stand-alone meeting between the three nations that was not on the sidelines of a larger international summit. He repeatedly praised Mr. Yoon and Mr. Kishida for “the political courage” they were demonstrating.He chose the resonant setting of Camp David for the talks to emphasize the importance he attaches to the initiative, inviting the leaders to the storied retreat that has been the site of momentous events over the decades, including most memorably Jimmy Carter’s 13-day negotiation in 1978 brokering peace between Israel and Egypt.“This is a big deal,” Mr. Biden said, noting that it was the first time he had invited foreign leaders to the camp since taking office. “This is a historic meeting.”The others echoed the sentiments. “Today will be remembered as a historic day,” Mr. Yoon said. Mr. Kishida agreed, saying the fact that the three could get together “means that we are indeed making a new history as of today.”A stronger collaboration with Japan and South Korea could be a significant pillar in Mr. Biden’s strategy to counter China.Samuel Corum for The New York TimesThe leaders agreed to establish a three-way hotline for crisis communications, enhance ballistic missile cooperation and expand joint military exercises. They issued a written “commitment to consult” in which they resolved “to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security.”The commitment is not as far-reaching as NATO’s mutual security pact, which deems an attack on one member to be an attack on all, nor does it go as far as the defense treaties that the United States has separately with Japan and South Korea. But it cements the idea that the three powers share a special bond and expect to coordinate strategies where possible.China has derided the idea of a “mini-NATO” in Asia, accusing Washington of being provocative, but aides to Mr. Biden stressed the difference from the Atlantic alliance. “It’s explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific,” said Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser.Mr. Biden and his aides maintained that the collaboration sealed at Camp David should not be seen as aimed at China or any other country. “This summit was not about China. This was not the purpose,” the president said. “But obviously China came up.” Instead, he said, “this summit was really about our relationship with each other and defining cooperation across an entire range of issues.”Still, no one had any doubt about the context against which the meeting was taking place. The Camp David Principles issued by the leaders did not directly mention China, but it did “reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” a warning against aggressive military actions by Beijing.The documents released were more explicit about nuclear-armed North Korea and the joint efforts they will take to counter its military, cyber and cryptocurrency money laundering threats.Looming in the backdrop was Mr. Trump, whose mercurial actions and bursts of hostility while president flummoxed Japanese and South Korean leaders accustomed to more stable interactions with Washington.At various points, he threatened to withdraw from the U.S. defense treaty with Japan and to pull all American troops out of South Korea. He abruptly canceled joint military exercises with South Korea at the request of North Korea and told interviewers after leaving office that if he had a second term he would force Seoul to pay billions of dollars to maintain the United States military presence.The summit at Camp David was aimed at ending decades of friction between the two Asian countries.Samuel Corum for The New York TimesThe Asian leaders hope that the three-way accord fashioned by Mr. Biden will help avoid wild swings in the future. The president and his guests sought to institutionalize their new collaboration by committing to annual three-way meetings in the future by whoever holds their offices.“There’s definitely risk-hedging when it comes to political leadership,” said Shihoko Goto, acting director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.”By deepening the cooperation below the leader level through various new mechanisms, she said, the governments may be able to maintain functional ties even if a volatile president occupies the White House.“If a new U.S. president were to avoid going to international conferences or had no interest in engaging, the trilateral institutionalization of ties should be strong enough so that working relations between the three countries would continue,” she said. “So it won’t matter if a president didn’t show up since the working-level military or economic cooperation would be well-established.”It is not the first time allies have questioned the United States’ commitment to its partners. Despite Mr. Biden’s promise at the NATO summit last month that Washington would “not waver” in its support for Ukraine and western allies, some leaders openly asked whether the U.S. foreign policy agenda would be upended by the outcome of the next election.Ukraine needed to make military progress more or less “by the end of this year” because of the coming elections in the United States, President Petr Pavel of the Czech Republic warned on the first day of the summit.Mr. Biden in Finland was also asked about whether the U.S. support of NATO would endure. “No one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone could make,” Mr. Biden said then.At Camp David on Friday, neither Mr. Yoon nor Mr. Kishida mentioned Mr. Trump directly in their public comments, but they seemed intent on ensuring that their agreement persists beyond their tenures. Mr. Yoon said the nations were focused on building an alliance that could last for years to come. The three nations will hold a “global leadership youth summit to strengthen ties between our future generations,” he said.Endurance was a running theme throughout the day. “We’re opening a new era,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters shortly before the meetings opened, “and we’re making sure that era has staying power.”Ana Swanson More

    • 75 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      Your Monday Briefing: Kishida Visits Seoul

      by

      Also, the U.S. braces for a surge of immigrants this week.President Yoon Suk Yeol’s critics say he has given too much and has received too little in return from Japan.Pool photo by Jung Yeon-JeJapan’s leader visits SeoulPrime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan is in South Korea today, where he is meeting President Yoon Suk Yeol in an effort to nurture a fledgling détente. Yesterday, in Seoul, the two leaders agreed to press ahead with joint efforts to improve bilateral ties — even though Kishida did not apologize for Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century.Kishida went no further than saying that Japan stood by past statements, when some of his predecessors expressed remorse and apologies. He said that his “heart ached” when he thought of the suffering of the Koreans, but his words fell short of the clear and direct apology that many South Koreans, including the head of the main opposition party, had demanded.Yoon said he would not dwell on seeking such an apology, despite criticism from some Koreans: “It’s not something we can unilaterally demand; it’s something that should come naturally from the other side’s sincerity.” Instead, Yoon urged his nation to focus on the immediate challenges from North Korea and China.Context: Kishida’s two-day trip follows a visit in March by Yoon to Tokyo. It means that shuttle diplomacy is back on track after regular exchanges between the countries’ leaders ended in 2011 over historical differences.The U.S. angle: The vows to deepen national ties are another encouraging sign for the U.S., which has been urging Japan and South Korea to let go of past grievances and cooperate.In El Paso, Texas, migrants wait outside churches where they can get donated food and clothing. Justin Hamel for The New York TimesU.S. readies for immigration surgeThe U.S. is preparing to lift a pandemic-era emergency health rule that prevented hundreds of thousands of people from entering the country. It is bracing for a crush of people at the border with Mexico — and a flare in political tensions.The U.S. is expecting as many as 13,000 migrants each day beginning Friday, immediately after the measure expires. That’s up from about 6,000 migrants on a typical day. Three cities in Texas declared a state of emergency, and President Biden recently ordered 1,500 troops to the border.More people are coming from far-flung nations in economic distress or political turmoil — like Venezuela, China, India and Russia. Inside the U.S., the debate over the broken immigration system is still polarized and overheated, posing a serious political risk as the 2024 campaign starts.Context: The order, known as Title 42, allowed the U.S. government to swiftly expel citizens of several countries back to Mexico. Asylum: A tough new rule that disqualifies asylum seekers who did not first seek protection elsewhere will go into effect on Thursday.Mayor Ken Sim, right, in Vancouver’s Chinatown.Jackie Dives for The New York TimesDid China interfere in Canadian elections?The mayor of Vancouver, Ken Sim, is caught in a political storm over reports of Chinese efforts to sway elections. Sim, Vancouver’s first mayor of Chinese descent, said his sweeping victory had been hard won and suggested that he was being targeted because of his ethnic background.The debate gained steam in February when the Globe and Mail newspaper said classified intelligence reports showed that China tried to manipulate Canadian elections — including in Vancouver. The reports have not been made public, but are said to conclude that China tried to ensure victory for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party in the two most recent federal elections and support for candidates of Chinese descent.China’s former consul general in Vancouver sought to groom local Chinese Canadian politicians, according to the reports. Sim’s rival is also calling for China’s interference to be investigated. Sim rejects claims that Beijing meddled, and instead points to his tireless campaigning and more appealing policies to explain his landslide victory. “If I was a Caucasian male, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said.Analysis: Canada’s former ambassador to China said that Canada was seen by Beijing as a target of influence partly because Beijing sought to use Canada as a lever to press the U.S. to soften its opposition to China.THE LATEST NEWSAround the WorldAs of May, a nonprofit group has recorded 192 mass shootings in the U.S.Jeremy Lock/ReutersAt least nine people died, including the gunman, in a mass shooting at a mall in Texas.King Charles III was crowned on Saturday. Here are pictures from the coronation.Arab nations agreed to let Syria rejoin the Arab League, a step toward ending the country’s 12-year-long international ostracism.Israel is refusing to hand over the body of a prominent Palestinian prisoner, drawing scrutiny of the country’s practice of keeping bodies as leverage to bargain for Israeli remains.The War in UkraineUkraine is feeling immense pressure from Western allies for success in a looming counteroffensive.More than 5.5 million Ukrainians who left after the war began have returned home — even if it is near the front line.The Dnipro River, a front line in the war, is an ancient battleground. Our photographer spent weeks traveling along the waterway. See her images.Asia PacificThe violence in Manipur erupted over a question of who gets to claim special tribal status.Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesEthnic clashes have killed dozens of people in Manipur, a remote state in northeast India.A group of top Indian wrestlers, who accused the sport’s top official in the country of serial sexual harassment, vowed to continue pushing for his arrest.DNA evidence helped confirm that a “great father” who lived in Australia under an alias was actually a convicted killer and an escaped inmate from Nebraska.Netflix, encouraged by the success of “The Glory,” plans to spend $2.5 billion more on Korean content.The Australia Letter: Can Warner Bros. stop a Tasmanian sports team from being called the Tasmanian Devils?A Morning ReadSaumya Khandelwal for The New York TimesSherpa guides are leaving the industry of taking trekkers up Mount Everest and encouraging their children to pursue other careers. There are many reasons for the shift: The job is dangerous, the pay is modest and there’s scant job security.“I see no future,” Kami Rita Sherpa, a renowned guide pictured above in blue, told his son.SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAThis family left Khartoum and traveled 10 days to reach Aswan, Egypt.Heba Khamis for The New York TimesOn the run, againSudan’s war, sparked by two feuding generals, has driven more than 100,000 civilians across borders, and aid workers say as many as 800,000 could be forced to flee in the coming months.Thousands have fled to Egypt and Saudi Arabia and to relatively safer towns within Sudan. For many on the run, flight is not new. “The really, really sad thing about this is that this is not the first time these people are fleeing,” said Charlotte Hallqvist, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for South Sudan.Sudan had more than a million refugees from countries already torn apart by civil war, like Syria and South Sudan. It also had millions of internally displaced people fleeing conflict within Sudan. Now, as the new fighting enters a fourth week, these people are on the move again, facing another wave of violence and trauma.In the Darfur region of Sudan, more than three million were driven from their homes during a civil war in the early 2000s. Just weeks before the latest violence broke out, local authorities had started planning the gradual voluntary return of refugee communities in Darfur, said Toby Harward, principal situation coordinator in Darfur for the U.N.H.C.R. Instead, more are now fleeing the region. — Lynsey Chutel, a Times writer in JohannesburgPLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookKelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Roscoe Betsill. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.These toasted sesame and scallion waffles are light and savory.What to Listen toTimes music critics curated a playlist of 11 new songs.The News QuizTest your memory of last week’s headlines.Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Theater backdrops (four letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — AmeliaP.S. The W.H.O. announced that smallpox had been eradicated 43 years ago today.“The Daily” is about the Hollywood strike. “Hard Fork” is on the social media site Bluesky.Email us at briefing@nytimes.com.Lynsey Chutel, a Times writer in Johannesburg, wrote today’s Spotlight on Africa. More

    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Your Friday Briefing: Macron Pushes Through Pension Bill

      by

      Also, Poland says it will give Ukraine warplanes and Japan extends a hand to South Korea.Protesters gathered in Paris yesterday.Pascal Rossignol/ReutersMacron forces through retirement planPresident Emmanuel Macron pushed through contentious legislation to raise France’s retirement age — without a full vote in parliament. The decision inflamed tensions and set the stage for a no-confidence vote against his government.The move, which allows the retirement age to be raised to 64 from 62, drew calls for more protests after two months of mass demonstrations and strikes. In parliament, opposition lawmakers sang the national anthem and banged on their desks. On the streets, protesters pledged to continue the fight.Macron used a constitutional measure to enact the bill without putting it to a vote in the National Assembly, the lower and more powerful house of Parliament. The upper house, the Senate, approved the bill. Macron’s party and its allies hold only a slim majority in the National Assembly and did not have enough votes to pass the bill.The decision to avoid a vote is legal — but will be regarded by Macron’s opponents as anti-democratic. A no-confidence vote in the National Assembly is expected in the coming days, most likely on Monday, but it’s unlikely to succeed. If it did pass, it would bring down his prime minister and the cabinet, and the bill would be rejected.The confrontation over the past months has already revealed a weakened and more isolated president as he navigates his second and final term in office. It could define Macron’s legacy, especially if the right-wing politician Marine Le Pen succeeds him.Macron’s stance: He says France’s pension system is in “an increasingly precarious state” because retirees are living longer and their numbers are growing faster than those of today’s workers, whose taxes finance the system.Analysis: France’s attachment to retirement is complex, touching on its history, identity and pride in social and labor rights. The country reveres retirement and a generous balance between work and leisure. In polls, roughly two-thirds of people say they disapprove of the plan.A Polish MIG.Adam Warzawa/EPA, via ShutterstockPoland to send jets to UkrainePresident Andrzej Duda said that four of Poland’s MIG fighters will go to Ukraine “literally in the next few days.” It would be the first delivery of jets from a NATO country.Duda said that the rapid delivery of the four MIGs would be followed “gradually” by more than a dozen others that Poland has in its stocks.The delivery falls short of Ukraine’s requests for American-made F-16 fighter jets. A White House spokesman said that the U.S. still had no plans to send the warplanes, which are more advanced. “It’s not on the table right now,” he said.In other updates: The U.S. released footage of the drone incident. It shows Russian jets spraying the drone with what the U.S. described as jet fuel, but does not show a collision. Here’s the video.American officials promised to send more weapons to Ukraine, which is burning through its ammunition as it fights to hold Bakhmut. A spring counteroffensive looms.President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, left, shakes hands with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan in Tokyo.Pool photo by Kiyoshi OtaA South Korea-Japan thawYoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president, met with Fumio Kishida, Japan’s prime minister, in Tokyo yesterday. It was the first such visit in 12 years and came amid rising threats from China and North Korea.Japan’s prime minister said he wanted to open a “new chapter” in relations between the two countries. And Japan’s trade ministry said that it was moving to drop restrictions on technology exports to South Korea, which had been imposed since 2019. It gave no specific date, but the announcement itself showed that the two countries were increasingly willing to cooperate.North Korea sent a message, too. Hours before the leaders met, the country launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the second time in a month. South Korea said the missile, fired at a steep angle, fell into waters near Japan.Kishida: At a joint news conference, he said that he wanted to resume “shuttle diplomacy,” with high-level leaders visiting each other’s countries regularly — and that Japan and South Korea would seek to renew trilateral meetings with China.Yoon: Last week, South Korea announced that it would drop its demand that Japanese companies compensate Korean victims of forced labor during World War II.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesShare a pandemic ‘silver lining’The coronavirus pandemic has been a time of immense pain and loss. But it also made room for change. Families came back together. Toxic relationships ended. Jobs changed.We’re asking readers about the unexpected positive changes that came out of this difficult period. If you’d like to share a story of a silver lining, you can fill out this form. We may use your response in an upcoming newsletter.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificTikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, is scheduled to testify before U.S. lawmakers next week. Ore Huiying for The New York TimesIn a significant shift, the Biden administration demanded that the Chinese company behind TikTok sell the app — or face a possible ban. Britain became the latest Western country to ban TikTok on government devices.Criminal prosecutions connected to Indonesia’s soccer-stadium stampede, which killed 135 people, concluded with one 18-month sentence and two acquittals for police officers. Australia’s wine market is suffering after two years of Chinese tariffs.The Global EconomyThe U.S.: Stocks closed up. First Republic Bank will receive $30 billion in deposits from other banks in an effort to restore confidence in the banking system.Asia: Markets were down, a sign that investors are still nervous.Europe: The European Central Bank raised interest rates by half a percentage point, sticking to its inflation-fighting plan. Credit Suisse is borrowing up to $54 billion from the Swiss central bank.Around the WorldPresident Isaac Herzog of Israel warned that the judicial issue could prompt a civil war.Maya Alleruzzo/Associated PressIsrael’s government rejected its president’s proposed compromise on its plan to overhaul the judiciary.The police and military in Peru used lethal force on antigovernment protesters, a Times investigation found.Covid worsened the U.S. maternal health crisis. In 2021, the deaths of pregnant women soared by 40 percent, new government figures show. The Week in CultureShuko Nakamura in her Noh-inspired mask “Okina” (2022).Bon DukeIn Japan, women are reinventing Noh masks. The theatrical craft has long been dominated by men. “Hello Beautiful,” by Ann Napolitano, is Oprah’s 100th pick for her book club.New York City’s annual festival of Asian art has returned.A Morning ReadMark Felix/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSpace fashion is getting an upgrade: NASA and Axiom Space unveiled a new spacesuit made specifically for the first manned trip to the moon in more than 50 years — scheduled for 2025.“Astronauts are getting hip,” our fashion critic wrote.ARTS AND IDEASSouth Korean scientists are racing to breed strains that can thrive in warmer waters.Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesThe seaweed raceIn the age of climate change, seaweed is suddenly a hot global commodity. Long treasured in Asian kitchens, and ignored pretty much everywhere else, the marine plant is beginning to boom as a greener alternative to different materials.In South Korea, one of the most established seaweed-growing countries in the world, farmers are struggling to keep up with growing export demand. Globally, production has grown by nearly 75 percent in the past decade, and new farms have cropped up in Maine, the Faroe Islands, Australia and the North Sea. One London start-up is using it to make a plastic substitute, while in Australia and Hawaii, others are experimenting with seaweed that, when fed to livestock, can cut methane from cow burps.But some worry that the zeal to farm on the ocean may have unknown ecological risks. And seaweed itself is feeling the impact from climate change: “The water is way too hot,” a third-generation Korean seaweed farmer said. PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookJulia Gartland for The New York Times Ramadan starts next week. These potato samosas are an excellent iftar option.What to ReadIn “The Lost Americans,” a New Yorker investigates her brother’s sudden death in Egypt.What to Watch“Full River Red,” one of China’s highest-grossing films of all time, weaves slapstick fun into 12th-century political murder.How to Grow“No dig” gardening is not just possible — it’s easier.Where to GoTaipei, the Taiwanese capital, is experiencing a quiet renaissance even as regional tensions rise.Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Pasta, bread, etc. (five letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. Have a lovely weekend! — AmeliaP.S. Hugh Jackman enjoyed no-yeast cinnamon rolls from Times Cooking.“The Daily” is on French protests over the retirement age.I’m always available at briefing@nytimes.com. Thank you to everyone who has emailed! More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      As Japan Votes, Abe’s Party Hopes His Legacy Is on the Ballot

      by

      Many of Shinzo Abe’s goals are central to the Liberal Democrats’ platform, and party members hoped the slain ex-leader’s memory would inspire sympathy votes on Sunday.TOKYO — When Shinzo Abe was gunned down at a campaign stop on Friday, he was no longer the leader of Japan, nor of its governing party. But as Japanese voters went to the polls on Sunday, Mr. Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was still a guiding political force, shaping their choices at the ballot box and his party’s vision for the future.“I have the responsibility to take over the ideas of former Prime Minister Abe,” the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, told a crowd west of Tokyo on Saturday, the day after Mr. Abe’s killing, as he campaigned for their party’s candidates for the Upper House of Parliament.Many of Mr. Abe’s goals, like bolstering military spending and revising Japan’s pacifist Constitution, are still central to the Liberal Democratic Party’s platform. And party leaders hoped that drawing on his memory would give them more power to enact those ideas.Even before the assassination, the Liberal Democrats, along with Komeito, their longtime partner in the governing coalition, had been expected to win a majority of the seats up for grabs in the Upper House on Sunday. If Mr. Abe’s death results in the additional sympathy votes that some analysts expect, the coalition could gain a two-thirds supermajority in Parliament.Technically, at least, that would give it the power to achieve Mr. Abe’s most cherished goal: amending the clause in the Constitution imposed by postwar American occupiers that renounces war, and thus opening the door for Japan to become a military power capable of global leadership.Hours after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was fatally shot in Nara, Japan, people left flowers at the site of the attack.Philip Fong/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMuch stands in the way of that goal — not least that it has long been unpopular with the Japanese public. And with inflation pressures mounting, the yen weakening and coronavirus infections again on the rise, changing the Constitution could be a harder sell than ever.“I’m interested in prices, wages, daily life, medical services and child care,” said Risako Sakaguchi, 29, who cast her votes for Liberal Democratic candidates at a polling station in Saitama, a suburb of Tokyo.Given such fundamental concerns, “constitutional revision is a kind of luxury good,” said Tobias Harris, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who oversees work on Asia.“It’s the kind of thing where if there’s nothing else going on, maybe you can focus on this,” Mr. Harris said. “But given that attention being spent on constitutional revision is attention not being paid to other stuff, there is going to be a penalty for it, especially when people are so concerned about household issues.”More on the Assassination of Shinzo AbeAn Influential Figure: Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was one of the most transformational politicians in the country’s post-World War II history.Japan’s Gun Laws: Mr. Abe’s assassination may look like a rebuke of the country’s stringent gun laws. But a closer look at what happened actually demonstrates their effectiveness. Reactions: People in Japan, where violent crime is rare, were rattled by the assassination. Mr. Abe’s death also prompted an outpouring of mournful statements from world leaders.Mr. Abe, who was in office for nearly eight years (in addition to a brief, earlier stint as prime minister), left a legacy that went well beyond his hopes of revising the Constitution.Even after Japan fell behind China in world economic rankings, he helped extend its influence by holding a multinational trade agreement together after President Donald J. Trump pulled the United States out of it. At home, he helped bring the economy back from years of doldrums. Even if his economic policies never delivered as much as he promised, he gained international recognition for the program he called “Abenomics.”After he left office, Mr. Abe’s public statements resonated well beyond those of most former prime ministers. When he suggested that it was time for Japan to establish a nuclear sharing agreement with the United States, media outlets assumed the Liberal Democrats were considering a break with the longtime taboo against even discussing the possibility of a Japanese nuclear arsenal.For Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the sudden loss of Mr. Abe may present opportunities as well as perils. Pool photo by Yoshikazu TsunoWithin the party, he was a kingmaker, often referred to as a “shadow shogun.” Mr. Kishida owes his position to Mr. Abe, who directed his supporters to throw their weight behind him after Mr. Abe’s first choice, Sanae Takaichi, lost a first-round ballot in the party leadership contest.Campaigning for Liberal Democrats over the last two weeks, Mr. Abe’s enduring influence was on display, drawing crowds as far north as Hokkaido and as far south as Fukuoka. His fatal visit to Nara, Japan’s old capital, was his second in support of Kei Sato, 43, a junior member of the party.For Mr. Kishida, the sudden loss of Mr. Abe may present opportunities as well as perils. He could consolidate power after the election, as he is not legally required to call another one for three years. Politicians in Japan often refer to this interval as the “golden period.”But history suggests the odds may be against him. Since the end of World War II, powerful prime ministers have typically been followed by a revolving door of forgettable faces, said Carol Gluck, a professor of history and specialist in modern Japan at Columbia University. Mr. Kishida is the second person to hold the job since Mr. Abe resigned in 2020; his predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, lasted just a year.“There’s a whole lot of prime ministers, if you add them up between 1945 and now, who did not make a mark,” Professor Gluck said.Privately, Mr. Kishida may feel some relief that he will no longer have to answer to Mr. Abe. But others in the party are sure to maneuver to fill the power vacuum.Mr. Abe, center, campaigning in Yokohama for a Liberal Democratic candidate on Wednesday.Yoshikazu Tsuno/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesMr. Abe led the largest, and most right-leaning, party faction, and he had not anointed a successor. Infighting could unsettle the party and make it more difficult for Mr. Kishida to get policies enacted.“It would have been much more predictable if Abe was still a big influence,” said Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics at Sophia University.Party power squabbles aside, the bigger question may be whether Mr. Kishida ultimately has his own vision.He once cast himself as a liberal-leaning, dovish member of the party. But driven by the war in Ukraine and increasing threats from North Korea and China, Mr. Kishida has followed Mr. Abe in calling for increased military spending and weapons that can strike missile launch sites in enemy territory.Without Mr. Abe as a driving force, though, some analysts wonder if Mr. Kishida will be able to deliver on that national security agenda.“I think Japan will lose our momentum to strengthen our defense,” said Lully Miura, a political scientist and head of the Yamaneko Research Institute in Tokyo. “We need a visible figure who can support the strong security and appeal to the public.”At the peak of his power, Mr. Abe himself was unable to push through the constitutional revisions he so badly wanted. In 2016, he presided over a Parliament in which his governing coalition had the required two-thirds supermajority. But tensions within the coalition, along with concern that the public — which must ultimately ratify any constitutional amendment — would not go along, thwarted his hopes. Changing the Constitution could be even further out of reach now, given multiple crises around the world and at home.Campaign posters outside a Tokyo polling station on Sunday. Kimimasa Mayama/EPA, via ShutterstockThe war in Ukraine has worsened supply chain problems and driven up the prices of oil and other commodities, raising fears of energy shortages in Japan. Coronavirus infections, until recently under control, have started rising again. And in the longer term, an aging population and falling birthrate raise the prospect of labor shortages and problems with caregiving.Mr. Kishida has offered no all-encompassing program to address such challenges. When running for the party leadership, he spoke of a “new capitalism,” but never spelt out what that meant, other than vague rhetoric about reducing inequality.“Kishida could get things done if there are things that he wants to get done,” said Nick Kapur, a historian of modern Japan at Rutgers University. “He has some popularity and he’s going to have a majority, but as we know, there are so many economic headwinds for everyone in the world — dealing with inflation and an emerging markets debt crisis and the war in Ukraine — and maybe that would damage any leader at some point.”Interest in politics has long been low in Japan, where the Liberal Democrats have been in power for virtually all of the postwar period — largely because of ineffective opposition parties, many analysts say. Early indications on Sunday were that turnout would be low, despite the party’s hopes for a surge in sympathy votes.Ayumi Sekizawa, 31, who works for a real estate company in Tokyo, said he had voted for the Liberal Democrats in part to show his support after Mr. Abe’s death. But he said he usually voted for them because there were “no other good parties.”He said that given the aggressive behavior of Russia, China and North Korea, he agreed that Japan needed to improve its defense capabilities.But his main concerns were closer to home. “I’m interested in the economy,” he said. “Wages should be raised, otherwise, virtually, our living standard is declining.”Makiko Inoue More

    • 138 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      Japan’s Communists Are Hardly Radical, but Make a Handy Election Target

      by

      They have minimal support in polls. But by teaming up with other opposition parties for the first time, they have been made a boogeyman by the unpopular party in power.TOKYO — The Japan Communist Party is the oldest political party in the country. It’s the largest nonruling Communist party in the world. It’s harshly critical of China. And the Japanese authorities list it, along with ISIS and North Korea, as a threat to national security.To many in Japan, that comparison seems exaggerated. The party, which long ago abandoned Marx and Lenin and never really had time for Stalin or Mao, is about as radical as a beige cardigan: antiwar, pro-democracy, pro-economic equality.But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a primary target of Japan’s dominant political force, the Liberal Democratic Party, ahead of parliamentary elections on Sunday that will help set the country’s path out of the pandemic.Though clocking in at only 3 percent support in the polls, the Communists have become a handy boogeyman after teaming up with Japan’s leading opposition parties for the first time in an effort to dethrone the L.D.P. The Communists agreed to withdraw their candidates from several districts to avoid splitting the liberal vote.The conservative Liberal Democrats, who have governed almost continuously since the end of World War II, face little risk of losing power. But with their popularity sagging amid a weak economy and lingering questions over their handling of the coronavirus, they have tried to change the subject by painting the vote as a choice between democratic rule and Communist infiltration.“The Communist Party’s strategy is to get one foot in the door,” Taro Kono, the L.D.P.’s public affairs chief, told voters during a campaign stop. “Then they wrench it open and take over the house,” he added.Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, center, appears with leaders of other political parties during a debate in Tokyo this month. The conservative Liberal Democrats have painted this weekend’s vote as a choice between democratic rule and Communist infiltration.Pool photo by Issei KatoThe Japan Communist Party, founded in 1922, has long provoked government animosity. It vigorously opposed Japan’s military aggression before and during World War II, and the Japanese secret police persecuted and imprisoned Communists through the conflict’s end.In the 1950s and ’60s, the Liberal Democrats — aided by the C.I.A. — carried out heavy-handed crackdowns on the group, which briefly flirted with political violence and became a rallying point for anti-American student protests.Despite its name, the J.C.P. has largely abandoned its roots in favor of its own homegrown ideology. It broke with the Soviet Union and China in the 1960s and has recently become one of Beijing’s most vocal Japanese critics, denouncing its neighbor for following the path of “hegemony” and violating human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. When the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, the J.C.P. was the only major Japanese party not to send congratulations.Still, Japan’s National Police Agency has continued to treat the group as a menace. In its annual report on threats to the nation, it lumps the J.C.P. in with the Islamic State, North Korea and Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that killed 13 and injured thousands during a 1995 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway.The Japan Communists, the police note, are rapidly aging, losing their financial resources — mostly generated by subscriptions to their newspaper, Akahata, or Red Flag — and are having difficulty attracting new members.The agency is not clear about what actual threat the group poses. It does note that the Communists were planning to join other opposition parties to challenge the L.D.P., and that they had “added ‘gender equality’ and ‘a nuclear-power-free Japan’” to their platform. (The J.C.P. runs more female candidates than nearly any other Japanese party.)Stores in Tokyo that have been shuttered because of the pandemic. The weak economy and the country’s Covid response have eroded the popularity of the Liberal Democrats.James Whitlow Delano for The New York TimesBoth of those initiatives are opposed to some extent by the Liberal Democrats — who, for example, have rejected legislation to allow women to keep their last names after marriage — even though they are popular with the general public.But those are not among the top issues for voters in the coming election. Their priorities are clear: keeping the coronavirus in check and putting the pandemic-ravaged economy back on track. Neither of these are necessarily winning issues for the L.D.P., which, though unlikely to lose, faces a strong risk of emerging from the election seriously weakened.Japan is reporting just a few hundred Covid-19 cases each day, and vaccination numbers have surpassed those of most other countries, despite a slow start. Nevertheless, there is a sense that the governing party mismanaged the crisis, fumbling the national vaccine rollout and delaying the country’s recovery. Stories of coronavirus patients dying at home despite ample supplies of hospital beds have further hardened public opinion.Current economic policies, which have failed to lift the country out of stagnation, are also unpopular — so much so that Fumio Kishida, who became prime minister this month after winning an L.D.P. leadership election, ran against them. Mr. Kishida promised that he would confront growing inequality through a (very socialist-sounding) program of wealth redistribution.He has since walked back those promises and looks set to continue his predecessors’ policies largely unchanged.The threat that the Japan Communist Party poses to the L.D.P. may come not from its size — the Communists have never gained more than 13 percent of the vote in a lower house election — but from its members’ dedication. The J.C.P., which has a highly organized base, could play a big role in drawing votes to the opposition, said Tomoaki Iwai, a professor of political science at Nihon University.A vigil in Tokyo during a July protest on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The Japan Communist Party has denounced China over its crackdowns on human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.Philip Fong/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“It’s an organization that has the power to gather ballots” he said.In focusing attention on the Japan Communists, the L.D.P. and its governing partner, Komeito, are betting that voters’ distaste for big “C” communism and fear of a rising China will drive them away from the opposition coalition, said Taku Sugawara, an independent political scientist.“Until recently, as far as the L.D.P. was concerned, the Communists were just a group that got in the way of the other opposition parties,” he said. “But now that they’re clearly a threat, they’ve become a prominent target of criticism.”Although there is widespread consensus in Japan that Beijing’s growing power poses a threat to regional stability, the L.D.P. and J.C.P. are split over how to deal with it.The Liberal Democrats have called for doubling military spending, increasing defense cooperation with the United States, and changing Japan’s pacifist constitution to give it, among other things, the ability to carry out first strikes against adversaries that threaten national security.The Japan Communists, however, prefer a diplomatic approach and are strongly opposed to the substantial American military presence in Japan, a position that makes it an outlier among Japanese political parties.The Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan. The Japan Communist Party is strongly opposed to the American military presence in the country, which makes it an outlier among Japanese political parties.Carl Court/Getty ImagesDuring a recent rally in front of the bustling Shinjuku station in central Tokyo, candidates for Komeito warned a small group of potential voters that the differing views of the J.C.P. and its political partners on national defense would make it impossible for them to govern competently.(The hawkish L.D.P. and its dovish coalition partner have themselves long been at odds over whether to increase military spending or alter Japan’s constitution to remove its prohibition against waging war. And Komeito is notorious for its reluctance to criticize Beijing.)The Japan Communists have said that their differences with other opposition parties would have no bearing on a new government. The Communists say they won’t seek any role if the opposition topples the L.D.P.But it’s hard to say what would actually happen if the opposition somehow won power, Mr. Iwai, the political science professor, said.None of the coalition members “actually think they’re going to win,” he said. So when it comes to discussions of what’s next, “No one’s thought that far.” More